Pelvic health for men and women is a medical area of increasing importance, at least in part due to an aging population. Examples of common pelvic ailments include incontinence (fecal and urinary) and pelvic tissue prolapse (e.g., female vaginal prolapse). Urinary incontinence can further be classified as including different types, such as stress urinary incontinence (SUI), urge urinary incontinence, mixed urinary incontinence, among others. Other pelvic floor disorders include cystocele, rectocele, enterocele, and prolapse such as anal, uterine and vaginal vault prolapse. A cystocele is a hernia of the bladder, usually into the vagina and introitus. Pelvic disorders such as these can result from weakness or damage to normal pelvic support systems.
One specific area of pelvic health is trauma of the pelvic floor, e.g., of the levator (“levator ani”) or coccygeus muscle (collectively the pelvic floor). The pelvic floor is made up of the levator and coccygeus muscles, and the levator is made up of components that include the puborectalis muscle, the pubococcygeus muscle, and the iliococcygeous muscle. For various reasons, the levator may suffer weakness or injury that could potentially result in various secondary conditions such as prolapse, incontinence, levator ballooning, and other conditions of the pelvis.